


The Frog Prince

by peytra



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fairy Tale Style, Romance, no angst we fluff like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 07:50:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10635480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peytra/pseuds/peytra
Summary: This is not a fairy tale.





	

**Author's Note:**

> ay lads i wrote this instead of a fourth chapter. you can find me at [mass-defect](https://mass-defect.tumblr.com/)

This is not a fairy tale. 

 

There is no Damsel in Distress, no Curses or Evil Witches, no Knights in Shining Armor, no Happily Ever After. 

 

* * *

 

Lieutenant Commander Shepard was, by all rights, a level headed, intelligent woman. she was kind when she could be, fierce when she could not. she was loyal, strong, determined, and reasonably attractive. she was also brash, stubborn, and too quick to go against authority. she was a bad driver and a worse dancer. she was not a perfect Virgin Maid. she was simply a flawed human being.

 

* * *

 

Thane Krios killed for hire, and he did not think it bad. he did not spend enough time with his wife and child, and sought revenge rather than care for his son. he was not rich, nor talented in things that did not involve another’s death. he accepted his Death with the ease of one who did not care what happened to them. he was honest, spiritual, humble, and very, very lonely. 

 

* * *

 

it was not love at first sight. they did not bound across open fields of wild flowers to meet in the middle, nor did their eyes meet in a smoldering gaze. there was no instant spark, and, truth be told, they didn't particularly care about one another beyond what they could provide. at least, not at first. 

 

Thane wanted a good death, and Shepard wanted a trained killer. over life and death situations, they trusted each other, but found friendship in the quiet moments in between. they spoke of many things: their childhoods, their philosophies, of dead planets and loved ones lost. they spoke, eventually, of children, or one child in particular. they went not to save his life, but, if one were feeling poetic, his very soul. for the boy was to kill a man in cold blood, and they knew well what that could do to a person. 

 

the boy did not give them thanks, and they did not ask for it. when they returned to the ship, Thane did not immediately pledge a life debt to Shepard. instead, they spoke of laser dots on skulls and sunset-colored eyes. 

  
  


when Shepard expressed her affections for the first time, it was not a declaration of love. it was cautious, and could nearly have been interpreted as friendly. Thane did not quite return her flirtations, though he was clearly interested. 

 

the next time they spoke, something had clearly changed. they discussed the circumstances surrounding their meeting, and Thane called her something strange. not Princess, nor Love nor Darling, although if one guessed Angel they would have been close. 

 

she could not understand what he called her, and he did not explain until the next time they met. a Warrior Angel, sent by a Goddess. And perhaps angel would not have been close at all, for he truly believed she was a Siha, while ‘angel’ is merely a pet name. 

 

finally, they held hands and spoke of the future. Shepard admitted that while she did not feel love, not yet, she did feel something, and that at the end of it all, she’d like to go to a desert with him. 

 

and when they spent the night together, it was not the culmination of years of love and devotion. it was the simple act of two people who wanted to feel alive, for the very next day they would go on a mission no one was quite sure they would come back from.

 

* * *

 

there is not a happy end to this story. they do not ride off into the sunset together, and live fully until the end of their days. they do not get a Happily Ever After. but they were happy, and perhaps that was enough. 


End file.
